53 Questions About Colts 2026 Training Camp

53 Questions About Colts 2026 Training Camp

INDIANAPOLIS – Well, there’s my workout for the month of July.

Below you will find 53 questions on the Colts (going off the magic roster cut down number of 53) heading into training camp at Grand Park.

With report day on Tuesday, July 28^th, and the first practice on Wednesday, here’s 53 questions to watch heading into a very important season:

1. Who takes more preseason game reps—Anthony Richardson Sr. or Riley Leonard? If the backup quarterback battle spills into the preseason, we could see quite the in-game competition between Anthony Richardson Sr. and Riley Leonard. With the expectation that Daniel Jones sits out preseason games, Richardson and Jones could be playing in quite a lot of the 12 preseason quarters of game action.

2. Do the Colts sign a veteran wideout? Several factors are weighing into this question: Do the Colts have enough at wideout after Michael Pittman Jr.’s departure? How should Alec Pierce’s health status impact the depth chart at wideout? Is Ashton Dulin ready for a bigger role offensively? The Colts have replaced some exiting starters with a notable resource or two, but not at receiver. Is that about to change?

3. Will Charvarius Ward Sr. wear a guardian cap? This was a debate that even Ward mentioned back in the spring as he has decided to play another NFL season. Following a season in which Ward suffered 3 concussions, there was some doubt on whether he’d play this coming fall. Would Ward wearing a guardian cap further his already accomplished NFL career?

4. Who makes up the third-down pass rush package? Let’s call it the IndyCar package. DE-Laiatu Latu is a lock. I would say DE-Arden Key is likely. But who else? DT-DeForest Buckner is typically a lock, but his health is in question. I could see DT-Adetomiwa Adebawore being a definite interior pass rushing option. But filling out this group is a definite question that needs some answering.

5. When does Daniel Jones take part in 11-on-11 reps? Is Daniel Jones taking the first-team, 11-on-11 reps on the first day of training camp? That was the lone part of practice Jones didn’t take part in during the spring period. The expectation is Jones will get to that final practice hurdle quickly at Grand Park. Does that mean Wednesday, July 29^th, when the Colts hit the field for Practice No. 1?

6. How interchangeable will the Colts safeties be? The Colts really believe A.J. Haucly is more than just a “box” safety replacing Nick Cross. They have visions of his field playmaking providing some ability to interchange him and Cam Bynum in regards to splitting free and strong safety duties. How will that actually play out?

7. Is there a sneaky free agent addition coming for the Colts? Let’s put in the obvious positions of wide receiver and defensive end to the side. What about a veteran offensive lineman for depth? How about another linebacker to be thrown into the mix? Would a more veteran backup quarterback make sense at all?

8. Are Colby Wooden and Adetomiwa Adebawore in line for big 2026 seasons? If that DeForest Buckner neck injury lingers into the season, these are two names you will be hearing a lot on the defensive line. Wooden is who the Colts got in return for Zaire Franklin. And Adebawore flashed a bit last year in some rotational interior rushing reps.

9. What is the role for Hunter Wohler? Internally, the Colts are really high on Wohler, believing he would have pushed for major playing time before a rookie foot injury ended his season last August. So what does that mean for Wohler in 2026? Does he push for the starting strong safety job or is he a main guy in the sub packages?

10. Does Grover Stewart get a true nose tackle backup? The 32-year-old Stewart has been incredibly durable and consistent in his Colts career. But is it time to start dialing back his reps at all? The team did sign veteran Derrick Nnadi in the offseason, who has 98 career starts at 317 pounds. Could that be the answer in lessening some of Stewart’s role?

11. Do we see a return of veteran linebacker Germaine Pratt? In 2025, Germaine Pratt arrived in early October and did an adequate job stopping the linebacker bleeding at the spot next to Zaire Franklin. Given the unproven nature of that position heading into this season, do the Colts explore a Pratt reunion again this fall?

12. How will the crowds be at the final Grand Park training camp? Personally, I think it’s a real bummer the incredible fan access that comes with training camp at Grand Park is ending. For 2026, the Colts will start with a handful of morning practices, transition to 5 weekend sessions in August and conclude things with a pair of joint days of work with the Falcons. After this year, it’s anyone’s guess how fan access will look for Colts training camp practices moving forward.

13. How will the Colts go about trying to win “uglier” games? This is a stated goal of Shane Steichen entering his 4^th season as Colts head coach. And he’s exactly right. Under Steichen, the Colts are 3-17 in games they score 20 points or fewer. To put that into perspective, the Texans are 8-14 in such games as they now have 3 playoff wins in the last 3 years. The Colts must find ways to win uglier/low scoring games.

14. Does Chris Ballard receive a contract extension before the start of the season? I mean, given the leash Ballard has been given in his now 10^th year at the helm of the Colts, would this truly shock fans? Ballard was hired in 2017, received a contract extension during the 2021 camp (along with Frank Reich), and now sits in the final year of that deal. Is that an important note in evaluating his future with the franchise?

15. Will Anthony Richardson Sr. be on the team throughout the preseason? Remember, on the Colts third day of training camp, Anthony Richardson Sr. has a roster bonus due of $4.24 million. Once that hits, will other NFL teams be more intrigued to trade for him, knowing it would only cost a little more than a $1 million? The Ricardson trade request is apparently still there, so this is a key date in a potential domino for his future.

16. Does Lou Anarumo have more in store in Year Two? Colt defenders stated quite often last season how much more substance there is in the week-to-week vernacular in a Lou Anarumo defense. Do we see the Colts tap into more of that sophistication in Year Two? Or does the turnover of 5 new defensive starters, including a rookie signal caller, hinder that at all?

17. Will the Colts miss any of their 7 departing starters? Entrenched starters gone from 2025 are RT-Braden Smith, WR-Michael Pittman Jr., DE-Kwity Paye, LB-Zaire Franklin, LB-Germaine Pratt, CB-Kenny Moore II and SS-Nick Cross. Who will the Colts miss the most from that list of more than 500 career starts in Indy.

18. How will Colts try to give Daniel Jones the unscripted moments? Anytime you hear players talk about returning from injuries, it’s the unscripted movements that is hard to simulate or replicate. That’s even truer for the red jersey wearing quarterbacks. The Colts have said they will try to get Jones into some of those moments, prior to the season opener on September 13^th, but how does that exactly look?

19. Which Gus Bradley era Colts are in trouble to make the team? Under Lou Anarumo in Year Two, the Colts have turned over virtually everyone at the second and third levels of the defense. Here are some names of Colts defenders left from the Gus Bradley era: DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, Laiatu Latu, Adetomiwa Adebawore, Jaylon Carlies and Daniel Scott. Is this the final Colts training camp for former starter Jaylon Jones?  

20. Is there an undrafted free agent to make the team on defense? A name to watch for on defense is big defensive tackle Cameron Ball, although the Colts do have quite a few veteran bodies in the interior. The other one I’ll be watching is LSU linebacker West Weeks, as he tries to show up on special teams.

21. How will the Colts handle the competition for the backup quarterback spot? Back in the spring, the Colts evenly split the (starting) reps between Anthony Richardson Sr. and Riley Leonard. Will that continue in training camp, as Daniel Jones takes over his starting role? That will mean a really small amount of daily reps to evaluate Richardson/Leonard. Does that lead to this competition be mainly focused on these two in preseason game reps?

22. What are the rookie roles for George Gumbs Jr. and Caden Curry? The thought is not super heavy roles for either player. But the Colts don’t have a lot of defined playing time at defensive end opposite Laiatu Latu. Will the special teams background of Curry push for him to get into a weekly dressing on game day roles?

23. Who emerges behind Jonathan Taylor? Unlike last year, the Colts don’t have clear running back reserves in Tyler Goodson and Ameer Abdullah. It looks like the competition will come down to DJ Giddens (5^th round pick from 2025) and Seth McGowan (7^th round pick from 2026). That’s a lot of youth in those spots behind the ever-durable Taylor.

24. Does DeForest Buckner participate? When you hear DeForest Buckner discuss his neck injury status, he seems to be pointing more towards “trying to be ready for Week 1” vs. “trying to be ready for the start of training camp.” Buckner, 32, is coming off major neck surgery and it’s hard to guarantee his typically unique, high-level of play into the 2026 picture.

25. Who is the Colts third wide receiver? For now, the answer appears to be Ashton Dulin. Is the answer to this question in the Colts building right now? Do we see some real competition from Laquon Treadwell, Nick Westbrook Ikhine or even rookie Deion Burks?

26. Does Deion Burks challenge for return duties? For any late Day 3 draft pick, establishing a key role on special teams is huge to maintaining roster status. That applies to Deion Burks as he tries to secure a roster spot. Burks barely did any returning in college though and he has a ways to go before earning the Colts trust back there.

27. Will Tyler Warren sustain it for an entire season? Like several Colts players, it was a tale of two seasons for Tyler Warren. With the Daniel Jones injury situation certainly impacting some things, Warren had virtually all of his “best” games in the first half of the season. The Colts need more year-long consistency from Warren, especially with Michael Pittman Jr. no longer in Indy.

28. Does Carlie Irsay-Gordon meet the media? One of Jim Irsay’s annual media appearances came at training camp, typically on a crowded day. Will Carlie Irsay-Gordon follow suit with that? We heard from Irsay-Gordon at the end of the 2025 season, and again at Owner’s Meetings, but she didn’t chat during the NFL Draft, which is a time her father typically spoke. Will she also continue to appear on the team’s preseason television broadcast, like her father did?

29. Do the Colts need to lessen the workload of Jonathan Taylor? It was quite remarkable that Taylor went through the entire 2025 season never appearing on the injury report. Taylor led the NFL in carries with 323. After 1,551 carries in 6 NFL seasons, on top of 926 carries in his 3 college years, do the Colts need to look into lessening the workload of Taylor? The Colts have said they are looking into it, but actually doing it in games is another story.

30. Does Alec Pierce participate? The Colts will hold 13 training camp practices from July 29-August 20. How many will Alec Pierce (ankle) participate in? Remember, the late Match surgery for Pierce was thought to lead to a timetable of 4-to-6 months. So, four months would be late July, five months late August and six months late September. There seems to be some real question on how much Pierce will take part at Grand Park.

31. Who emerges into some offensive line depth roles? While I don’t see much starting offensive line competition for the Colts in 2026, they do need to solidify some depth roles. Rookie Jalen Farmer is thought to be the top guard. At tackle, are Blake Freeland and Luke Tenuta the top names? Who is the backup center? Is Dalton Tucker able to handle those duties with Danny Pinter now in Baltimore?

32. How does Josh Downs respond to a contract year? The Colts 2023 Draft was supposed to be one rooted in a rebuild. Instead, Josh Downs looks to be the only one deserving of a multi-year extension. Chris Ballard is super high on the player of Downs, but does that mean an extension is coming before the start of the season? How would Downs view that, knowing an expanded role is likely coming his way?

33. Is there a third-year jump coming for Laiatu Latu? This one is so so vital to the Colts getting to another level as a football team. There’s a lot to like about Latu’s trajectory through two seasons. But is he ready to be a true top-notch edge rusher, winning weekly against starting offensive tackles?

34. Any changes to the training camp physicality from the Colts? A big emphasis from Shane Steichen in last year’s camp was putting his team into some sudden change situations. This year Steichen has focused on the team finding ways to win games uglier. Does that mean anything for how the Colts will handle their training camp practices? Any more, or less, from the physicality of the Colts practices at Grand Park?

35. Will there be any contract extensions? This is more of a Carlie Irsay-Gordon question. Given the state of the franchise, and the uncertainty of Chris Ballard in a contract year, will she allow for the organization to hand out any contract extensions? She clearly had no issue in the trade for Sauce Gardner, but if change is imminent, staying away from more hamstringing of your future can’t be overlooked.

36. Will the Colts carry three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster? Most teams have seemed to adopt the security that comes with carrying 3 quarterbacks on a roster. If the Colts do that, their current roster state would have Daniel Jones and some order of Riley Leonard/Anthony Richardson Sr. Is that going to be the case come September? Is Richardson really going to be QB3 for the first time in his career?

37. Is Jalen Travis ready for full-time right tackle duties? In Braden Smith leaving the Colts this offseason, the team seems prepared to turn those valuable right tackle keys over to Jalen Travis. That’s a lot of responsibility for Travis, a 4^th round pick from 2025, who did get a couple of starts late last season. This is a big storyline if this offensive line is going to be among the league’s best and this 2026 season is going to have January success.

38. Is Ashton Dulin ready to handle a bigger wide receiver role? Leaving the spring, Ashton Dulin seems to be the team’s third wide receiver. Is Dulin truly ready to ascend to a pseudo starter? How the Colts project Dulin could have some definite impact in the team potentially adding a notable veteran wideout in camp.

39. What will come from a new defensive line approach? In the Chris Ballard era, the Colts have had a decent amount of positional coach turnover along the defensive line. That’s occurring again in 2026 with Marion Hobby joining the Colts after Charlie Partridge left to go to Notre Dame. Will Hobby, who spent several seasons with Lou Anarumo in Cincinnati, be able to develop some much-needed production out of the D-line room?

40. Who wins the team’s placekicker competition? Arguably the most legit position battle at training camp will take place at kicker. Spencer Shrader is returning from an ugly leg injury to try and regain a job that Blake Grupe performed beautifully at to end the 2025 season.

41. Is CJ Allen prepared to be the new quarterback of the defensive? For the first time since 2021, the Colts will have a new signal caller of their defense. The trade of Zaire Franklin means the Colts will have a new main communication, with the thought those duties will go to rookie CJ Allen. Did multiple years of Allen doing this at Georgia prepare him for a smooth NFL transition?

42. Who emerges into the leadership category? In parting ways with Kenny Moore II (111 career starts), Braden Smith (105 career starts), Michael Pittman Jr. (86 career starts), Zaire Franklin (82 career starts), Kwity Paye (74 career starts), the Colts are losing some real pillar players from recent years. And some of that carried strong leadership labels. How will the Colts replace that? Remember, it’s Alec Pierce who has replaced Moore on the side of Lucas Oil Stadium.

43. Is there enough production at defensive end? Here are the Colts top 4 defensive ends entering camp and their career sack numbers: Arden Key: 30.5 sacks in 116 games, Laiatu Latu: 12.5 sacks in 33 games, Micheal Clemons: 8.5 sacks in 65 games; Jaylahn Tuimoloau: 0 sacks in 13 games. That’s not much production, at a position of vital importance.

44. Is Justin Walley ready to take the baton from Kenny Moore II? The Colts are pretty excited when it comes to projecting Justin Walley into their defense for 2027. Walley was turning some important heads during last year’s offseason. The Colts need more playmaking from their defense and Walley is likely to be around the ball a lot.

45. Does rookie Jalen Farmer push for playing time? When the full pads come on a few days into training camp, we should get an idea of the 4^th round pick from Kentucky pushes Matt Goncalves at all at right guard. A knee injury sidelined Farmer from the team’s June minicamp, so we didn’t really see any true rotating for the starting offensive line this spring.

46. Do the Colts have a dominant outside cornerback duo? If healthy, Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward Sr. should form one of the more blanketing outside cornerback duos of any in the NFL. This paring being elite is such a key component to the Colts having an improved defense in 2026.

47. Will the Colts find quality defensive tackle depth? Chris Ballard has pointed to this area as one that has really improved from last season. The team has added veterans Colby Wooden, Jerry Tillery and Derrick Nnadi. With DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart growing in age, the Colts need to have some solid depth answers at defensive tackle. Wooden could be a guy that fans don’t know much about in July, but is playing a massive role in the fall.

48. Is A.J. Haulcy ready for full-time starting duties? Throughout the spring, the Colts were extremely impressed by the professionalism shown by rookie safety A.J. Haulcy. It sounds like the expectation is Haulcy will be a Day 1 starter. Will he be ready for another rise in competition, like he did throughout his 3 collegiate stops (New Mexico State, Houston, LSU).

49. Who is the 2^nd linebacker? Assuming CJ Allen is a starting linebacker, I view that spot next to him as more up in the air. Akeem Davis-Gaither has Lou Anarumo experience, which can’t be overlooked. Jaylon Carlies is a former draft pick who needs to string together some good health, and did that this spring as he tries to make a positive impression on Anarumo. And 4^th round pick Bryce Boettcher shouldn’t be forgotten either.

50. Who finishes first on the team in catches? I think there’s some good debate around this. I could hear strong cases for Alec Pierce, Josh Downs and Tyler Warren. I’ll go with Downs in a contract year, but this should be a good competition, assuming health cooperates.

51. Any need for a defensive free agent signing in camp? Defensive end and linebacker are the two spots I center on for this debate. The edge rush group really lacks proven production in this league. And it is anyone’s guess to how linebacker will play out. Do any other areas pop up in camp as a place to replenish some depth?

52. Who wins the position battle at defensive end between Arden Key and Jaylahn Tuimolau? In the spring, veteran newcomer Arden Key was much more with the starting lineup than Jaylahn Tuimoloau. Will that continue once the full pads come on at Grand Park? Key is coming off of 33 starts with the Titans over the last 3 years.

53. Will Daniel Jones play in the preseason? As much as Daniel Jones might want to give it a go in August, the full expectation is he will not take a single preseason snap. Most probably side on it’s too risky to expose Jones (and the Colts starting offensive line) to game action. Although could you knock of any early-season rust by playing Jones some in August?

54 (bonus). Is there an undrafted free agent to make the team on offense? Running back is certainly a position to watch with uncertain depth there. That’s good news for Lincoln Pare, who showed some receiving ability in the spring, or even bigger back Anderson Castle. Offensive line depth is another area to keep an eye on, particularly in the interior.